Uni cuts put productivity at risk

Universities Australia chairman and vice-chancellor of James Cook University, Sandra Harding, will push a case for increased spending on higher education and student income support.
Photo: Andrew Quilty

Universities Australia will use the results of a student welfare survey showing many students miss classes because they have to work and some even go hungry to mount a fresh attack on government spending cuts. Universities and students will be $1 billion a year worse off by 2017, posing risks to productivity, newly appointed Universities Australia chairman
Sandra Harding
will tell the National Press Club on Wednesday.

In her first address as chairman, Professor Harding, vice-chancellor of James Cook University, will push a case for increased spending on higher education and student income support.

Vice-chancellors are hoping there will be no further cuts to higher education in Tuesday’s federal budget.

“You don’t have a modern, first world economy unless you have people with the smarts to innovate, create knowledge, create new industries and work in them," Professor Harding will tell the National Press Club.

“And you don’t have a smarter people if Australia’s public investment in tertiary education as a percentage of GDP is less than 24 of the world’s 29 advanced economies."

She will also highlight student welfare concerns by foreshadowing the results of a survey which found that a third of university students regularly miss classes to work and some even go hungry.

4 in 5 undergrads must work to support themselves: survey

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“Despite the impression given that [the cuts] are temporary and only in effect for two years, these are the cuts that just keep cutting."

Universities Australia estimates the cumulative effect of the government’s announcement just over three weeks ago – which included a $900 million “efficiency dividend" across the university sector, converting scholarships to loans and caps on self-education expense claims – will result in a loss to universities and students of around $1 billion a year in 2017.

At the same time, results of the soon-to-be-released survey funded by Universities Australia show 80 per cent of undergraduate students have to work to support themselves, and on average they work 16 hours a week.

Converting hitherto “start-up" scholarships to loans, albeit to be deferred and paid off through the HECS system, may discourage students from enrolling, particularly those from debt-averse lower socioeconomic status families, according to Professor Harding.

This particular savings measure will save $1.2 billion over the forward estimates. Removal of the up-front discount for repaying tuition debts early will save another $228.5 million.

“Less support, greater costs will put enormous pressure on some families and young people when they come to consider whether to go to university or not," she will say.

Professor Harding will outline two potential futures for Australia – a “best of times" outlook where tertiary education is adequately financed to secure new jobs and new industries and a “worst of times" where students, academics and researchers are squeezed and innovation and productivity are adversely impacted.